The mood in the room was quite subdued and most people present had grave concerns over the state of the club - but the mood was lifted slightly when Mark Reynolds passed on the news that Hornets had trained this week and that we had 12 players present. A chink of light at the end of the tunnel?

Onwards and upwards, I guess.

Thanks again to Rachel for handling the minutes.

Agenda

Nest Egg Account Summary
Update on the Supporters Trust
Marketing Strategy
Questions for the Shareholders Meeting
Any Other Business

Accounts Summary

At the start of December, the account balance stands at £1,063, which is a good basis for next season's campaign.

In its first year the Nest Egg has contributed a phenomenal £6,520 to Rochdale Hornets. This is made up of the following:-

£1,000 initial donation in May
£2,000 towards player payments when we did not have a home game for 6 weeks
£650 loan fee for Radney Bowker
£750 players' overnight stay in Cumbria before the Whitehaven game
£120 sponsorship of Dave Larder
£2,000 to purchase shares in Rochdale Hornets **

** Shares have not yet been issued, but the £2,000 has been taken from the Nest Egg account.

Supporters Trust

Since the last Nest Egg meeting, there has not been much progress regarding Supporters Trust information. Jim pointed out that he has telephoned them on numerous occasions, but gets either the answering machine or calls are not returned. However, Jim has contacted a member of the Swinton Supporters Trust for some background information.

The Swinton Trust has approximately 250 members and it was thought that this was a realistic target for the Nest Egg Trust to aim for. It was confirmed that it costs £700 to register as a Supporters Trust - and unfortunately they are still waiting for the repayment of their fees.

Next Meeting
The next Nest Egg meeting is scheduled for January but the date has yet to be confirmed. The Sydney branch of the Hornets Supporters' Club will, hopefully, be present at the next meeting.

As the Nest Egg has now been running for a year, subs and any annual "lump sum" donations are due. Those paying via standing order do not need to do anything.

The next meeting will also mark the "Official Launch of the Trust". It was noted that to become a Trust, the Constitution has to be ratified and members need to vote. Please refer to the Trust document handed out at the last meeting for more information.

Marketing Strategy

To help raise the profile of the club and encourage more people to come to watch Hornets, Jim suggested that the Nest Egg should drive a marketing strategy.

The first step is to identify the audience and then market the club to like-minded people. In order to profile a "typical Hornets fan", a questionnaire was circulated which contains both 'lifestyle' and Hornets-related questions.

Jim mentioned that there are few, if any, clubs who take the time to research the nature of their supporter-base and then went on to explain the reasons for including some of the questions.

There was then a 5 minute break for the questionnaires to be handed out.

Questions for the Shareholders Meeting

With the pending Shareholders EGM, it was suggested that questions should be put to the board on behalf of the Nest Egg.

A number of questions were raised regarding aspects such as the Consortium bid and player signings for next season.

Questions for the Shareholders Meeting

Gary "at the last shareholders meeting, the directors said that if new money and someone willing to take over the club came in, the current directors would stand. Why haven't they done this?"

Mick "what is the salary cap for next season and how are we going to pay the players?"
As the salary cap details were not known, it was agreed that the following questions should be asked
"what is the salary cap?"
"is it based on last years figures or projected calculations for this forthcoming season?"
"where will our income come from?"

Gary "how have we managed to let the best coach at Hornets for many years slip away and sign for a rival club?"
Stan "did the club pay the money owed to Hull KR?"
Ray "as the club is on its knees, can the board have a radical change in policy regarding freebies next season, ie-no free match tickets and everybody pays"
Gary then commented that not all freebies are actually free, tickets may be given to people who have made loans to the club. He also raised the issue of attendances and the comment by Ray Taylor said that at 1 match out of 600 people, only 300 people paid. As there looked to be more than 600 people at that game, what happened to the rest of the gate money?

Jim confirmed that he would raise the issue of freebies and attendance money at the meeting.

Other questions...
Mick "is it true that Paul Reynolds gets 20p for every £1 spent on the Yankee?"
Brian " he has heard that if new directors went onto the board and wanted to alter the club for the better, the current board would stand down. If 5 Nest Egg members stood to be directors, would the board accept it?"
Peter "Ray Taylor is quoted as saying Hornets have a viable future, please could he justify this comment. For instance are there sponsorship deals which we don't know about?"
Mick "will we start and finish the season?"
No further questions.

Any Other Business

Brian queried why the Rochdale Observer hadn't printed details of the meeting in Last Saturday's edition. Jim pointed out that the press release relating to the meeting had been issued two weeks ago and, while the paper had printed details of the meeting then, the NestEgg has little control over what the Observer chooses to print. Brian wanted to put on the record his view that the Observer treats Hornets with contempt.

It was suggested that, if members felt strongly about the Observer's general treatment of Hornets, we should all write to the Editor with our comments regarding their poor and negative coverage.

Mark Reynolds raised a query over a statement made by Ray Taylor after the Consortium Bid was rejected. The statement originally appeared on the Independent Rochdale Hornets website but was removed the following day. Mark was wondering the reason for this.

As Jim jointly administers the website, he was able to answer this query. After the statement was placed on the website, a phone call from Martin hall was received disputing Ray Taylors statement. Solicitors were mentioned. As the website is run by two supporters and receives no funding, the threat of Solicitors could not be risked. Therefore the statement was removed and it was agreed that Martin Hall would then speak to Ray Taylor in person to resolve the dispute.

Mark then emphasised that the facts from the Shareholders meeting need to be reported to Nest Egg Members, Hornets supporters and the general public of Rochdale, "accurate reports of why the take over Consortium failed must be relayed."

It is hoped that the Rochdale Observer will send a reporter to the meeting next week and that an accurate story will be reported.

Ray Myers then brought it to our attention that Rob Hall was attacked in Rochdale a few weeks ago. His injuries are quite serious and he'll be off work until at least February. It was suggested that the Nest Egg could perhaps make a contribution to help him over this difficult time. The majority of members were in agreement with this idea.

Ray suggested that we donate £200 to Rob, this was seconded by Ena. The vote was then put to the floor. 28 people were in favour, 4 were against and there were 4 abstentions. The motion was carried and £200 will be sent to Rob Hall. The cheque was signed on the night and will be delivered by Mark Reynolds with the best wishes of the Nest Egg.

There was no further business so the raffle was then drawn. As usual, Andy Birch had collected the money and £85 was raised. Prizes were several bottles of wine.

To round up the meeting, Jim said that he would confirm the date of the January meeting in the near future, all the questions would be raised at the Shareholders meeting and he thanked everyone for coming..

The meeting was closed at 9.05pm.